quote · Legacy record
I've always resented the smug statements of politicians, media commentators, corporate executives who talked of how, in America, if you worked hard you would become rich. The meaning of that was if you were poor it was because you hadn't worked hard enough. I knew this was a lie, about my father and millions of others, men and women who worked harder than anyone, harder than financiers and politicians, harder than anybody if you accept that when you work at an unpleasant job that makes it very hard work indeed.
I've always resented the smug statements of politicians, media commentators, corporate executives who talked of how, in America, if you worked hard you would become rich. The meaning of that was if you were poor it was because you hadn't worked hard enough. I knew this was a lie, about my father and millions of others, men and women who worked harder than anyone, harder than financiers and politicians, harder than anybody if you accept that when you work at an unpleasant job that makes it very hard work indeed.
Approximate author period: c. 1966 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Howard Zinn
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1966 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1922 to 2010; Wikidata Q119546, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q119546 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 251747; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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